"The superior man is catholic and no partizan. The mean man is a partizan and not catholic." (君子周而不比、小人比而不周。) ─ Confucius, The Analects, 2.XIV, translation by James Legge.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Lady Gaga's Pro-Government Activism

"Tackling issues like hunger and genocide is safe - attacking US policy is not," reminds John Feffer, suggesting, "Only if cultural icons go against the grain and risk unpopularity do they engage in an inherently noble enterprise" — Foreign policy goes Gaga.

About the entity names in the title, Mr. Feffer writes, "She has campaigned against the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' law on homosexuals in the US military and supported marriage equality." Both issues have the full backing of our government, of course. About "her project to help out the people of Japan after the March earthquake," Mr. Feffer informs,

On her recent trip to Japan, Lady Gaga went a step further in her activism. She dressed up as a panda and drank Japanese tea on television. This might seem more like performance art or an out-take from a music video rather than a political act. But it was all part of an effort to demonstrate that Japanese food is safe, despite the spike in radioactivity after the meltdown at Fukushima.

Then, comparing this activism to "Alice Walker's involvement in the Gaza flotilla," Mr. Feffer concludes, "Lady Gaga, like Walker, is risking her life, but inadvertently and in service of a government instead of in defiance of one."